Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
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Incredibly tasty, luscious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins made super-moist with Greek yogurt and topped with sweet and tangy cream cheese lemon glaze!
Want all the lemon desserts you can get? Then you’ll definitely want to try my popular posts for Snow-Capped Lemon Cookies, Cream Cheese Lemon Bars, Lemon Poppy Seed Cake, and Cream Cheese Lemon Crumb Cake.
Okay, I admit, everyone and their dog has a lemon poppyseed muffin recipe. I’m not claiming to reinvent the wheel here. After all, lemon poppyseed muffins are a classic. But this recipe is my absolute favorite and, as your personal source for yummalicious recipes, I am committed to sharing any recipe that makes me say “mmmmm!!” which, obviously, this recipe does.
The difference in this ever-so-slightly tweaked version of my mother’s lemon poppyseed muffin recipe is that, while she makes hers with oil, I use plain, fat-free Greek yogurt because it adds protein and a LOT of moisture, and replaces the fat from the oil. I also added a rich and tangy lemon cream cheese glaze because, well…do I even need a reason for frosting?
Why This Recipe Works
Simple ingredients — You know what makes baking so much better? When you have all the ingredients and they’re not complicated. You probably have everything you need right now or one or two missing ingredients are just a quick grocery trip away. Nothing fancy or hard to find here.
Lemon glaze — These lemon poppyseed muffins are fabulous without the lemon glaze but just a drizzle and you’ll be forever a convert to muffins with frosting. Or, glaze, because the word “glaze” makes it sound less like a cake and more like a healthy muffin.
Fresh lemon juice — Sure, you can use the bottled lemon juice, and it’ll work just fine. But I truly believe in my heart of hearts that fresh lemon juice just tastes better. It’s more tart and tangy and really has a much better lemon flavor.
Zest — You know, while we’re on the topic of fresh lemons, I should probably mention how good it is to use fresh lemon zest for adding real lemon flavor to the actual muffin. Try this at home. You’ll thank me later.
Here’s How You Make It
Making the Muffins
- First, preheat that oven to 450. Then grease a muffin pan or line it with cupcake liners. (not pictured)
- Then, in a medium bowl, add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, and whisk together. (photo 1)
- In another large bowl, mix together the butter, eggs, sugar, lemon zest, Greek yogurt, and vanilla. (photo 2)
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix till everything’s combined, then add in the poppyseeds and stir. (photo 3-5)
- Add the batter to the muffin tins, only filling about ⅔ full. Bake in preheated oven for 12-16 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean except for a few moist crumbs. (photos 6-7)
- Let the muffin tin cool on a wire rack. (not pictured)
Making the Icing
- While the muffins are cooling, make the icing by first beating together the softened butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes until fluffy. (not pictured)
- Now add powdered sugar and lemon juice to the cream cheese and butter and mix in. Add more lemon juice to taste if you like. (photo 8)
- Drizzle the icing over the cooled muffins. Serve the muffins right away or you can store them on the counter in an airtight container for 3-5 days. (not pictured)
Frequently Asked Questions
My secret to making moist muffins is to use both butter and Greek yogurt and to be careful not to over-bake. These should take no longer than 20 minutes, max to bake. If they take longer, then they’re probably filled up too much. The longer they bake the most likely they are to get dry.
Poppy seeds are, indeed, good for you. They are a great source of fiber, which can keep you feeling fuller, longer. They are low in fat, sugar, and calories, and are a good source of magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, and also contain a little bit of protein. All good things!
Poppy seed oil (oil made from pressing poppy seeds) is a good source of omega-6 and -9 fatty acids, which are a good source of fat for your heart.
Expert Tips
- Did your glaze come out more like a frosting? That’s okay. You can thin the glaze out a bit by warming it up in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until it’s to your desired consistency.
- Want to skip the poppy seeds in this lemon poppy seed muffin recipe? No problem. Simply don’t add them and the lemon muffins will still be delish!
- If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can substitute sour cream or you can use vegetable oil but it’s not a 1:1 ratio, so you’ll need to add about 1 ½ cups of oil instead of yogurt.
- For a lighter lemon glaze you can just use powdered sugar and lemon juice. The ratio is about 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Whisk and drizzle over the top of the muffins for a sweet, light tasty glaze.
More Tasty Muffin Recipes
- Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Bran Muffins
- Cinnamon Muffins
- Zucchini Bread Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Did you try this Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins recipe? EXCELLENT! Please rate the recipe below!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter, (4 tablespoons)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, (or almond)
- zest of 2 small lemons , (or 1 large lemon – about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup plain fat free greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon poppyseeds
Icing
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 (see note) and grease a muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice, and greek yogurt.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in poppyseeds.
- Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full with muffin batter. Bake for 12-16 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
- (See note about icing) To make the icing, cream softened butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes until very fluffy. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice and mix well. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired. Drizzle icing over cooled muffins. (If icing is too thick you can warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds ) Serve immediately or store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.
Notes
- Did your glaze come out more like a frosting? That’s okay. You can thin the glaze out a bit by warming it up in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until it’s to your desired consistency.
- Want to skip the poppy seeds in this lemon poppy seed muffin recipe? No problem. Simply don’t add them and the lemon muffins will still be delish!
- If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can substitute sour cream or you can use vegetable oil but it’s not a 1:1 ratio, so you’ll need to add about 1 ½ cups of oil instead of yogurt.
- For a lighter lemon glaze you can just use powdered sugar and lemon juice. The ratio is about 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Whisk and drizzle over the top of the muffins for a sweet, light tasty glaze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Try these Cream Cheese Lemon Bars next!
Good, but added extra lemon juice and lemon extract for more lemon flavor. Also only used 2 cups powdered sugar for frosting and still had too much, 1.5 cups would be about right.
I tried these the other day and they are DELICIOUS. I had never baked with greek yogurt before and feared they would turn out a weird texture. The texture is incredible though! I’m so glad I found your recipe. One thing I’m going to try next time is add a little more lemon juice to the muffin batter to make them a little more lemon-y. Now I have a lot of extra lemon icing – any suggestions what to make so I can use it up (other than more of these muffins, which I will be doing soon as well!)?
I would slather that icing on a sweet bread like almond, strawberry, or poppyseed, and it would be amazing on scones or pancakes!
They look amazing! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Can you tell me if you use salted or unsalted butter, please? thanks.
Hi Naoko – I used unsalted, both would work though!
Hi
I may made these and they did not turn out at all. They were completely flat in the middle. They tasted incredible but looked terrible.
I’m wondering did you use plain or self raising flour?
Hi Anna, I use regular all-purpose flour! Did you open the oven while the muffins were baking? That can cause muffins to fall in the middle. Also, if the rising agent (baking soda/powder) is not distributed evenly it can cause uneven baking like that. I just had an Instagram follower the other day write in to say she made them both as normal-size and mini muffins and both turned out great so hopefully your next batch comes out just as good as hers did! 🙂
Baking soda and baking powder are not the same thing are they? Baking soda is an acid and baking powder is a rising agent. Which one specifically do you use?
In addition, you dont want to oVermix. That can also cause the finished product to “fall.” .
I usually use whole wheat flour for everything – do you think this could be made with whole wheat flour?
Hi Skye – the thing with using all whole wheat flour is that the end product will be much more dense so it depends on whether you are okay with that. If you’re open to it, I’d suggest trying half whole wheat and half white, but it’s up to you!
These muffins look fabulous. Just double checking..”bake at 450″…that seems a little high to me. Thanks. Love your recipes!
Hi Barb! I know, 450 does seem high doesn’t it?? I adapted this recipe from my mother’s very very old collection and when I first read the cooking temperature I thought it must be a mistake but sure enough, they came out perfect at 450 degrees! If you live at a lower altitude (closer to sea level) then you’ll need a couple minutes less time so just keep an eye on them! 🙂
Hi Tiffany, I am excited to try making these muffins for my daughters confirmation tomorrow. She loves lemon and cream cheese frosting so they are perfect. Do you think I could make mini muffins instead because we will have lots of food and people might want a smaller portion size. How would you adjust the temperature and time?
450 was way too high. they were burning. took them out at 8 mins ANd they are a bit too dark brown. oops. will lower the temp next time. i licked the batter spoon and it tasted delish.
Thanks for your feedback, Joey!
please can you say if you are using metric cups and spoons as I have come unstuck in the past because mine are all metric Uk’s are sometimes imperial and USA are different again??? Thanks
Hi – I’m using all American measuring cups, spoons, etc. Hope that helps!
These are right up my alley!
These look perfectly moist and delicious!
Yummy! These would be awesome!